St Philip Howard Catholic Voluntary Academy (formerly St Philip Howard Catholic School) is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

secondary school located in

Glossop Glossop is a market town in the borough of High Peak (borough), High Peak, Derbyshire, England, east of Manchester, north-west of Sheffield and north of Matlock, Derbyshire, Matlock. Near Derbyshire's borders with Cheshire, Greater Mancheste ...

in northern

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

Description

St Philip Howard Catholic Voluntary Academy is a small

co-education Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

al, three form entry, 11–16 Catholic

comprehensive school A comprehensive school is a secondary school for pupils aged 11–16 or 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is restricted on the basis ...

that has traditionally provided secondary education for Catholic school children in the Glossopdale and

Longdendale Longdendale is a valley in the Peak District of England, north of Glossop and southwest of Holmfirth. The name means "long wooded valley" and the valley is mostly in the counties of Derbyshire and Greater Manchester. Geography The eastern par ...

valleys. The school attracts applications from a wide variety of backgrounds and other primary schools in

. The current headteacher is Louisa Morris. The school attends a religious service at the nearby St Mary's Catholic Church at least once a term. The school welcomes applications from all students, but makes clear that Catholic children come first in the selection process. Students come from Catholic primary schools around Glossop,

Gamesley Gamesley is a residential area within the Borough of High Peak in Derbyshire, England, west of Glossop and close to the River Etherow which forms the boundary with Tameside in Greater Manchester. Gamesley is a ward of the High Peak Boroug ...

, Hadfield and Old Glossop and some join the school from other non-religious schools in Glossop,

Tintwistle Tintwistle ( ) is a village and civil parish in the High Peak district of Derbyshire, England, which had a population of 1,400 at the 2011 census. The village is just north of Glossop at the lower end of Longdendale Valley. Tintwistle, like n ...

and the

and

Tameside Tameside is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England, named after the River Tame, Greater Manchester, River Tame, which flows through it, and includes the towns of Ashton-under-Lyne, Audenshaw, Denton, Greater Manchester, Denton, D ...

areas. * All Saints Catholic Primary School, Old Glossop * St Margarets Catholic Primary School, Glossop * St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Glossop * St Charles Catholic Primary School, Hadfield

Governance

Previously it was a

voluntary aided school A voluntary aided school (VA school) is a state-funded school in England and Wales in which a foundation or trust (usually a religious organisation) contributes to building costs and has a substantial influence in the running of the school. In m ...

administered by

Derbyshire County Council Derbyshire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Derbyshire in England. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the ceremonial county, which additionally includes Derby. The county council is ba ...

. St Philip Howard Catholic School converted to academy status in September 2015 and was renamed St Philip Howard Catholic Voluntary Academy. It joined the St Ralph Sherwin Catholic Multi Academy Trust in 2018. The school retains a relationship with the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Nottingham The Diocese of Nottingham () is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic church in England and a suffragan of the Metropolitan Diocese of Westminster. The diocese covers an area of , taking in the English counties of Nottinghamshire (now exclu ...

Curriculum

Students enter the school in

Year 7 Year 7 is an educational year group in schools in many countries including England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand. It is the seventh full year (or eighth in Australia and England) of compulsory education and is roughly equivalent to grade 6 ...

with a wide variety of traditional subjects on offer. The emphasis is on English, Maths and Science. The school is a specialist

sports college Sports Colleges are senior secondary schools which promote sports alongside secondary education. United Kingdom Sports Colleges were introduced in 1997 as part of the Specialist Schools Programme in the United Kingdom. The programme enabled sec ...

with English as the second specialist subject. The school offers three separate sciences at

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of subjects taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, having been introduced in September 1986 and its first exams taken in 1988. State schools ...

for those deemed capable.

Key Stage 3

At Key Stage 3, the school aims to deliver broad and balanced curriculum, developing a "thirst for learning" in the students. They need this prior learning and new skills and knowledge, so they can benefit from the more focused work in Key Stage 4. Over a two-week timetable totalling 50 hours they will study English 8 hours, Maths 8 hours, History and Geography for 3 hours each, Science for 6 hours, Technology for 2 hours and a Modern Foreign Language for 4 hours. Religious Education gets 5, PHSE 1, Art, Computing, and Music get 2. Physical Education has two, two-hour slots. In year 9, students start to specialise, they take three subjects alongside the core subjects of English, Maths, Science and RE. This personalised curriculum allows students to study at greater depth developing a deeper knowledge and understanding of the chosen subjects, and have support in choosing the correct pathway for their future careers.

Key Stage 4

Students continue to study their three subjects whilst continuing with English, Maths and Science, Religious Education and Physical Education. All of the traditional subjects are on offer. Students can choose to do Physical Education at GCSE and will therefore increase their time in this subject. The school has introduced a broad range of

vocational qualifications Vocational education is education that prepares people for a skilled craft. Vocational education can also be seen as that type of education given to an individual to prepare that individual to be gainfully employed or self employed with req ...

which allows students to attend a separate college one day a week to study extra courses.

Buildings

The school has two main areas, known as "The Main Building" and "Campion House". The latter was named after the Catholic martyr

Edmund Campion Edmund Campion, SJ (25 January 15401 December 1581) was an English Jesuit priest and martyr. While conducting an underground ministry in officially Anglican England, Campion was arrested by priest hunters. Convicted of high treason, he was ...

(1540–1581), who was executed in the reign of

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...

. Three new classrooms have recently been built, added to the lower part of Campion House.

Results

GCSE Results August 2011 73% achieved 5 or more A* to C Results including Maths and English. 88% achieved 5 or more A* to C's. The results are above average compared to similar schools nationally, and have improved year on year. However based on the new

English Baccalaureate The English Baccalaureate (EBacc) is a school performance indicator in England linked to the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) results. It measures students' attainment by calculating an average score from specified subject grades. ...

introduced by the Conservative Education Secretary

Michael Gove Michael Andrew Gove, Baron Gove (; born Graeme Andrew Logan, 26 August 1967) is a British politician and journalist who served in various Cabinet of the United Kingdom, Cabinet positions under David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Rish ...

in 2011, only 13% of students achieved 5 A*-C grades.

References

External links

Saint Philip Howard Catholic Voluntary Academy official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Philip Howard Catholic Voluntary Academy Secondary schools in Derbyshire Catholic secondary schools in the Diocese of Nottingham Educational institutions established in 1961 1961 establishments in England Glossop Academies in Derbyshire